Regona City: Renegade (BK4)

Kidnapped...of Sorts

"Huh?" The Falcon Omega whirled to Rayne, all fear of him dispelled. "Do we know why?"

"No," Alegra replied. She clenched her fingers into fists before letting out a breath to relax.

Rayne stayed silent; eyes glued to the screen.

"Did something happen to them?" Sahara murmured.

"All of them at once?" Rayne mocked. "Unless we went to the afterlife by ourselves, that's impossible." He straightened. "They cut ties. It's as simple as that."

"We don't know that." Alegra was quick to jump in.

"They've. Cut. Ties," Rayne repeated, emphasizing each word as he stared her down. "The shipments on their way here were on the radar. We watched them withdraw and they refuse to answer. The only way that happens is if they were re-called."

"That doesn't make sense. What's their reason?" Sahara voiced.

"I'll ask my father," Alegra looked at Sahara but seemed to be addressing Rayne.

The latter stood, unblinking. "We're locked out of all communication with them. Not even the Royal City will answer."

"We don't know that!"

"We've been trying all day!" Rayne fumed.

Alegra turned to face him, chin proudly jutted out as she displayed the royal stubborn streak within. "He'll talk to me. He wouldn't cut off everything without a reason."

A sigh escaped Rayne as he broke the gaze first. "Whatever the situation, they left us. We have no choice but to wait. In the meantime, we should plan for the worst case...if this turns into a long-term thing."

"It doesn't make sense!" Alegra burst out, face red as she glared. "They wouldn't just leave all of the sudden!"

"But they did!" Rayne argued right back.

Alegra closed her mouth.

"They did," Rayne repeated. He waved an arm around the room. "I already looked at every angle the moment communication went down." his tone softened. "It's not us. They're the ones who did it. Only they can choose to pick it up again."

"Can't Terrell hack into their system to figure it out?" Sahara offered a possible solution.

"You can't hack into something you have no connection to," Rayne replied.

Alegra shook her head. "It doesn't make sense," she murmured.

Rayne opened his mouth only to pause. He closed it again, sealing his lips.

Alegra missed the action, Sahara had not. She narrowed her eyes.

He's hiding something. Terrell's words seemed to hold more weight all of a sudden.

"Our engines are fixed," Rayne spoke calmer. "We've restocked. We have crops planted, a small workforce, and production is starting again. Things aren't as dire as they seem. As long as we can find a way to make it all sustainable, we'll be fine." As he rubbed his tired eyes Sahara found that his assuring words actually calmed her. "Until they explain their reasoning, we can't afford to waste time on them." Rayne lowered his hands.

Alegra bit her bottom lip, eyes showing her turmoil. She didn't argue further.

Sahara was lost in her own thoughts as she tried to figure out if the situation was necessarily bad or not. Regona survived on its own before, this is nothing new, right? Besides, like Rayne said, we're not in bad shape to keep moving forward.

However, it still left a glaring question of why? Why would they suddenly cut us off when they've finally reconciled? Sahara wrinkled her forehead in thought. Then again, we are talking about cities that sent a virus into an entire city as an experiment. Would them abandoning us really be that surprising? Maybe we're more of a burden than anything else and that's why?